Biogenic amines and division of labor in honey bee colonies: behaviorally related changes in the antennal lobes and age-related changes in the mushroom bodies

Levels of the biogenic amines dopamine, serotonin, and octopamine were meas ured in different brain regions of adult worker honey bees as a function of age-related division of labor, using social manipulations to unlink age an d behavioral state. In the antennal lobes, foragers had higher levels of al l three amines than nurses, regardless of age. Differences were larger for octopamine than serotonin or dopamine. In the mushroom bodies, older bees h ad higher levels of all three amines than younger bees, regardless of behav ioral state. These correlative results suggest that increases in octopamine in the antennal lobes may be particularly important in the control of age- related division of labor in honey bees.